JP4369868B2 - Acquisition and display of site visit path data - Google Patents

Description

This application claims priority from US Provisional Application No. 60 / 393,002 to “Sequence Analysis Engine” filed on June 28, 2002, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

This application is a US patent application to “Efficient Clickstream Data Collection” filed on the same date as this application. Related to the issue.

This application is further a U.S. patent application to "Generating Custom Events and Attributes for Use in Website Traffic Data Collection" filed on the same date as this application Related to the issue.

The present invention relates generally to website usage tracking, and more particularly to improved techniques for obtaining and displaying site visit path data.

Website providers often want to collect data that describes their website usage and visit patterns. For example, such information is of great value when developing usage statistics for various purposes, including server load evaluation, advertisement ratio determination, and website region confirmation that requires design changes.

When surfing the web using a browser such as Internet Explorer (available from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Washington), the user can navigate from one page to another by various means. That is, click a link in the page, enter a uniform resource locator (URL), click a dedicated browser button (back, forward, home, etc.), or select from a favorites list. In addition, the user can freely open and close the new browser window. Web browser users have gained proficiency over the years and have become increasingly familiar with such navigation. In addition, since the connection speed has been increased, the user is not reluctant to return to the original state when the user clicks the link freely and is not interested in the information presented by the link or only interested in the moment.

As a result, the user often touches the website page in a wandering manner while looking sideways or looking at an irrelevant page. Eventually, the final page of the theoretical linear path is reached, but some unrelated pages may be visited along the way. Such unrelated pages may be part of the same web domain as the straight path, or they may be outside that domain.

For example, when performing a linear task such as purchasing merchandise from an online shop vendor, a web page typically presents a series of steps. That is, find the desired item, select it by placing it in the shopping cart, activate the cashier function, enter delivery and payment information, and finally approve. However, the user may visit several unrelated pages along the way. For example, the user may look up the shipping cost of a product, look up the price of the product on a competitor's page, or look up the weather forecast for some reason. Eventually, a straight path page is visited in an identifiable sequence. In short, these extraneous pages are just a temporary distraction in the middle.

In many situations, the website administrator is interested in analyzing the website user's site visit path. Such administrators are not interested in visiting unrelated pages, or only interested in specific unrelated pages. Therefore, what is needed is a system that allows a website administrator to specify a page of particular interest so that other pages can be ignored when performing site path acquisition and analysis . What is further needed is a system that can obtain and analyze site path information based on configuration options selected by the website administrator and ignore visits to pages that are not of interest to the administrator. What is further needed is a system and method for presenting a site visit path to an administrator with easy-to-understand images.

The present invention provides an improved technique for collecting, filtering, and analyzing website user site path data to provide an analysis tool to correctly understand the sequence relationships between web pages on a site. Is. A website administrator can view a set of nodes of a site, i.e., a web page, as a checkpoint, and can construct a system of the present invention that provides information about a particular visit path through the checkpoint. The system then displays usage statistics for the specific visit path. According to the technique of the present invention, the system can recognize the visit path between checkpoints regardless of whether the user visits other nodes in the process of visiting the checkpoints. In this way, the present invention provides meaningful site path analysis for those nodes designated as checkpoints, even if the user diverts “side road” through other web pages that are not designated as checkpoints. it can.

The website administrator can specify a checkpoint node via the configuration interface. Alternatively, the system of the present invention can designate a specific node as a checkpoint based on factors such as specific features, location, name, popularity, etc. In either case, checkpoint configuration can be performed dynamically and can be modified accordingly as needed or based on changing conditions.

In one embodiment, the present invention also provides an image display of site visit path data that allows web administrators to easily understand and analyze the presentation information. These displays include, for example, varying the thickness, color, and / or other features of different lines to indicate the relative popularity and frequency of various site paths.

The figure shows a preferred embodiment of the invention for illustrative purposes only. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate from the description that follows, although alternative embodiments of the structures and methods described herein depart from the principles of the invention described herein. It can be used without.

In the following description, the present invention describes one embodiment in which data relating to user visits to individual web pages within a website is obtained. However, this description only describes the technique of the present invention, and it goes without saying to those skilled in the art that in any situation where it is desirable to obtain and analyze sequence relationships between nodes. The technique of the present invention can be applied. Furthermore, as will be described below, the present invention can also acquire sequence data at a granularity level instead of a page level such as a group of web pages collectively designated as nodes.

System Architecture Referring now to FIG. 1, an embodiment of a system 100 for collecting website traffic data for implementing the present invention is shown. A user 112 interacts with a client machine 107 that executes a software application such as a browser 110 for accessing and displaying web pages. In response to a user 112 command such as clicking on a link or entering a URL, the client machine 107 issues a web page request 111 that is transmitted to the content server 101 via the Internet. In response to the request 111, the content server 101 transmits the HTML code 102 to the client machine 107. The browser 110 translates the received HTML code 102 and displays the requested web page on the client machine 107.

Client machine 107 also sends web page visit tracking information 105 to tracking server 106, which is usually another server operated by a third party website traffic statistics service. The tracking information 105 typically includes information that describes the user identifier, the page visited and the date and time of the visit. The tracking information 105 can be transmitted from the client 107 to the tracking server 106 by known techniques. For example, one well-known technique is to embed a pointer in a resource, known as a “web bug” in HTML code 102. Resources are usually invisible to the user, such as transparent 1-pixel images. The pointer instructs the machine 107 to request resources from the tracking server 106. The tracking server 106 records the request in the log 108 and records additional information related to the request (such as date and time and possibly some identifying information that may be encoded in the resource request). In this way, the tracking server 106 records the occurrence of “hits” on the web page. The tracking server 106 also sends a request for a one-pixel image 109 to the client machine 107 so that the resource request is satisfied.

The site path analysis module 113 reads the stored tracking data from the log 108, filters the data, and outputs a report 114 to the web administrator 115. The report 114 may be provided via hard copy, a display screen (not shown), or by some other means. Administrator 115 can request specific types of reports and configure filtering, parsing, and output operations through user interface 116, as described in detail below. The report 114 includes, for example, a summary and statistical analysis that describes the relative frequency of following various site paths through the website. An example of such a report is described below.

Module 113 and user interface 116 may be implemented in software running on server 106 or another computer that has access to log 108. In one embodiment, the present invention is implemented primarily in module 113 and user interface 116.

Site Visit Path Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown a sequence example of a web page, i.e., a node 201, visited by a user while purchasing a product from an online shop. While such transactions are typical, when a user enters a website (eg, by entering the URL of the website, selecting from a favorites menu, or clicking on a link), a search page 201A is presented. The When an appropriate question item is entered and a search is performed, a product description page 201B that usually includes a picture of the product and some description information is presented to the user. When the user clicks the “Add to Cart” link and moves to the checkout page 201C, the user can view the current item in the cart. The user clicks another link to reach a payment / delivery information page 201D for entering payment and delivery information. After entering such information, the user is presented with a confirmation page 201E that gives the opportunity to review and final confirm the order. The user then leaves the website.

The analysis of user navigation through the sequence as shown in FIG. 2 has great value for the website administrator. For example, if the user always leaves the sequence before the final confirmation page 201E, this indicates that there is a problem with the design of the previous page or that there is some other defect in the website. If the user comes out after viewing the item description 201B, it may indicate that the price is too high. Of course, many other types of useful information can be obtained from site path sequence analysis as in FIG. In addition to helping website administrators understand the sequential relationships between pages on a website, node sequencing is useful in any situation where a sequence of nodes occurs as part of the process. . Examples include sequences of content groups viewed on a website, orders for products to be added to a shopping cart, and the like.

The sequence data is organized into nodes, where inspection items occur at each node. For purposes of explanation, the following discussion will primarily focus on web pages as examples of nodes. However, it goes without saying that one skilled in the art can apply the present invention to the analysis of other types of nodes organized into sequences, and a given sequence can include even different types of nodes.

The technique of site path sequence collection as shown in FIG. 2 is well known in the prior art. Certain users may move from page to page using conventional techniques such as cookies, web bugs, and / or session variables. Such user tracking mechanisms are well known in the prior art and need not be described in detail herein. The user's web page visit record is stored in a sequence based on the time the visit occurred.

Each visit record typically contains two types of information. That is, the identifier of the visited page and the metadata that provides further criteria for filtering and analyzing the sequence data. The type of metadata stored can be changed by a specific application. For example, the metadata may include a URL indicating the first page referrer that starts the sequence. Alternatively, such information may be stored in an identifier field of another record, along with metadata indicating that the particular record includes a referrer URL rather than a URL to a page within the site. In other situations, different types of information can be stored.

In one embodiment, the sequence data is organized into node groups denoted as “sessions”. Each session can include any number of nodes. The specific criteria for classifying nodes into sessions can be changed. One way to organize is to group all web page visits from a single source that occur in less than a specified time between nodes into a single session. Thus, for example, when analyzing a path sequence through a website, each session can be represented by all pages visited by a single user while not exceeding 30 minutes between page requests. Since another user may be accessing the website at the same time, several sessions of sequence data (one per active user) are often formed simultaneously.

The present invention improves upon existing techniques by providing a mechanism that allows irrelevant web pages to be ignored during site path sequence analysis operations. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, a user who has passed through nodes 201A to 201E in the middle of a session but has visited some unrelated pages during the session, does not visit the unrelated pages and visits nodes 201A to 201E. Will be counted by statistical analysis in the same way as users who pass through.

An example of an irrelevant page visited by the user is shown in FIG. The same five nodes from 201A to 201E are shown. However, between nodes 201B and 201C, the user visits page 201B1 to review some of the merchandise and visits page 201B2 to compare prices on competitors' web pages. Further, between the nodes 201C and 201D, the user visits the help page 201C1, looks for some information about the delivery option, and clicks the link on the page 201C1 to view the delivery option page 201C2. There can be many other types of extraneous pages, both inside and outside the website.

Site Path Pattern Mask In one embodiment, the present invention allows a website administrator to specify a particular path of interest by indicating a page sequence. Therefore, if the administrator wants to obtain statistics on how many users follow the path shown in FIG. 2, the specific page 201A, 201B, 201C, 201D and 201E is the sequence of interest. Can be defined as The sequence of interest is referred to herein as the target path. Module 113 extracts information from log 108 to determine how many users have followed the target path and provides report 114 to the administrator. This is accomplished by applying a filter to the stored data to generate a report that includes the actual user visit path that matches the target path. The administrator can indicate any desired path of interest. For example, if the administrator indicates the target path as pages 201B, 201C, and 201D, the report 114 will show all paths that followed that path, regardless of whether the path follows page 201A and continues to page 201E. It will contain information for the user. However, if desired, the administrator can specify that the target path must appear at a particular point in the sequence (eg, at the start of the sequence). However, in the absence of such a designation, the module 114 can specify a specific sequence of node values specified in the target path regardless of whether the sequence occurs at the beginning, end, or at some point in the session. Includes all sessions you have.

In one embodiment of the present invention, an administrator can use a pattern mask (also known as “regular expression”) when specifying a target path. A pattern mask is a way to represent a target node sequence in a way that can include specific nodes, values, value ranges, and / or “wildcards”. For example, at any particular node location in the target path, the pattern mask can indicate one of the following:

-The specific node (page) to be matched (eg "page1.htm").

A list or range of nodes (pages), any of which matches are considered (eg “[page1.htm, page2.htm, page3.htm]” or “page [1-3] .htm”);

A wildcard (eg, “?” Indicating any single node, or “*” indicating zero or more nodes); a wildcard matches any page;

For example, an administrator can specify a target path as follows:
201B?? 201C?? 201D

Module 113 then includes in the report any visit paths where the user visits 201B and then visits any two pages, then page 201C, then any two pages, and then page 201D. Further, the page may be specified by URL, page name, or any other means. The reference numbers used herein are for illustrative purposes only.

In another example, the administrator can specify an absolute position for a sequence regarding the start or end of a session. For example, an administrator can specify a target path as follows:
START OF SESSION? 201B

Module 113 then includes a visit path that was the second item encountered after node 201B started the session.

Of course, the above syntax is merely exemplary, and other techniques for specifying a target path may be provided. Further, the page may be specified by URL, page name, or any other means. The reference numbers used herein are for illustrative purposes only.

The pattern mask then generally provides the administrator with great flexibility in specifying the target path. Once the desired target path is specified, module 113 provides a report for the specified visit path. More complex data analysis can also be performed, including predictions like future behavior based on statistical analysis of visit paths. For example, consider a data set consisting of the following sessions (nodes are given letters A through F for illustration):
A->B->C-> D
B->A->E-> G
B->C->A->F-> C
A->F-> C
B-> C

Filtering for sessions with target path B->C->? Yields the following results:
1 occurrence of B->C-> D
1 occurrence of B->C-> A
B->C-> Once session end occurs

Based on this data set, if nodes B and C occur in a session, it can be predicted that the probability of A occurring at the next node is 33%. The chance of session termination is 33%.

In addition, filtering for sessions that match the mask A->?-> C yields the following results:
1 occurrence of A->B-> C
2 occurrences of A->F-> C

Based on these results, it can be concluded that there are two nodes F that traverse when moving from node A to node C with one node in between.

Finally, it can be understood which pattern leads to a given node. For the mask?->?-> C you get:
Session start->B-> C once
2 occurrences of A->F-> C

This provides useful information related to the most common way for a user to reach node C.

Referring now to FIGS. 9A and 9B, an example user interface for constructing a target path that includes wildcards is shown. The dialog box 900 provides easy to use buttons, icons and tools so that the administrator can configure the target path.

The target path 901 is represented by one or more icons 902 such as 902A, 902B. The pattern object button 904 adds any of several types of icons 902 to the configured target path 901. In an embodiment, the pattern object button 904 includes:

-Entrance site: The administrator can include the user's first website entrance in the target path 901;

-Specific pages: The administrator can specify one or more specific pages to be included in the target path 901;

-Exit site: The administrator can include an exit from the user's website in the target path 901;

-Wildcard: The administrator can include a wildcard in the target path 901.

In an embodiment, four different wildcards can be included: a wildcard that matches any web page or website entry / exit, a wildcard that matches something other than the website entrance, and a non-specific page. Wildcards that match and wildcards that match anything other than a website exit.

In FIG. 9A, the target path 901 includes an icon 902A representing the user's first website entrance. An add button 903 allows the administrator to add another icon to the target path 901. In one embodiment, the administrator clicks the add button 903 and then clicks the pattern object button 904 to add a specific item to the target path 901. In another embodiment, the administrator adds the button 903 by dragging the desired pattern object button 904. If the selected pattern object button 904 requires that one or more specific web pages be specified, the administrator can select, for example, a dialog box (not shown) from a list of web pages, or a user can access a web page An opportunity to specify a web page is given via a dialog box where an identifier or the like can be entered.

In one embodiment, the administrator can add an icon 902 at any point in the target path 901 by dragging the pattern object button 904 onto an existing icon 902 in the target path 901. In one embodiment, this results in a new icon 902 being inserted at a specific point in the target path 901. In another embodiment, the result is to replace the existing icon 902 with a specific point. In yet another embodiment, the administrator can specify whether insertion or replacement is desired. The user can also reorder the icons 902 in the target path 901 by dragging the icons from one location to another.

The item deletion button 905 deletes the selected icon. In one embodiment, the administrator deletes the icon by dragging the icon 902 from the target path 901 to the button 905. In another embodiment, the administrator clicks on icon 902 to select it, and then clicks button 905 to delete icon 902.

A cancel button 906 cancels the target path creation process and closes the dialog box 900. The delete canvas button 907 deletes all icons 902 from the target path 901. The report execution 908 reads the record, starts the filtering process, and generates a report using the specified target path 901. In one embodiment, any or all of buttons 906, 907, and 908 present a confirmation dialog box (not shown) before actually performing the action.

FIG. 9B shows the target path 901 after several icons 902 have been added. The target path 901 shown in FIG. 9B is as follows:
USER ENTERS SITE HOMEPAGE? USER EXITS SITE

Thus, the target path 901 of FIG. 9B matches any of the visit paths where the user enters the site via the home page, then visits any single page, and then exits the site.

It goes without saying to those skilled in the art that the user interface shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B is merely exemplary, and other layouts, icons, methodologies, or modes of operation of the user interface are fundamental features of the present invention. Can be provided without departing from. In one embodiment, the user interface of FIGS. 9A and 9B may include a search function similar to that described below in conjunction with FIG.

Checkpoint node In another embodiment, a particular node, i.e., page 201, is designated as a "checkpoint" meaning it is important in analyzing the website visit path. The administrator designates the target path in consideration of the checkpoint. When determining whether a particular visit sequence matches the target path, module 113 ignores all visits to non-checkpoint nodes. Furthermore, when aggregating the results and presenting a statistical report to the administrator, module 113 may ensure that all instances of a particular sequence of checkpoint nodes are present regardless of the presence or absence of any other (non-checkpoint) nodes in the sequence. Consider to be equivalent.

Referring now to FIG. 10, an example user interface for configuring a target path using checkpoints is shown. Dialog box 1000 provides buttons, icons, and tools that can be easily used by an administrator to configure a target path.

The target path 1007 is represented by a series of icons 1006 representing checkpoints. In one embodiment, the dialog box 1000 includes a search function that allows an administrator to search for a desired page from all available pages. The administrator enters one or more keywords in the search field 1001, clicks the search button 1002, and then selects a page from the listed results 1004. A delete button 1003 deletes the search field 1001.

When the search result 1004 is listed, the administrator can drag the page from the list result 1004 onto the target path 1007. The dragged page is designated as a checkpoint and is placed in the target path 1007 as instructed by the administrator. A new icon 1006 is created and displayed for each page dragged to the target path 1007. The administrator can also drag icons 1006 in the target path 1007 to reorganize checkpoints as desired. The item deletion button 905 operates in a manner similar to that described above for FIGS. 9A and 9B.

A check box 1005 indicates whether the target path 1007 should only match a visit path that starts upon entering the website.

A cancel button 906 cancels the target path creation process and closes the dialog box 1000. The delete canvas button 907 deletes all icons 1006 from the target path 1007. The report execution 908 reads a record, starts a filtering process, and generates a report using the specified target path 1007. In one embodiment, any or all of buttons 906, 907, and 908 present a confirmation dialog box (not shown) before actually performing the operation.

In the example of FIG. 10, the target path 1007 includes four checkpoints represented by icons 1006. Thus, the target path 1007 can be used regardless of whether the user has visited other pages at any point during the session, the home page, the page to add the product to the cart, the purchase process—the delivery information page, and the purchase process— Match any web visit path that visits the order confirmation page (in order). The user can visit other pages before and after visiting checkpoints on the list, and / or can visit pages between checkpoints on the list, and the user's visit path is still considered a match .

It goes without saying to those skilled in the art that the user interface shown in FIG. 10 is merely exemplary, and other layouts, icons, methodologies, or modes of operation of the user interface depart from the basic features of the present invention. Can be provided without.

In one embodiment, the system automatically designates a particular node as a checkpoint based on factors such as a particular feature, location, name, popularity, etc. For example, the home page and / or the five most popular pages can be automatically designated as checkpoints. In one embodiment, these automatic or default checkpoints can be used to construct the initial target path, which can then be modified by an administrator using an interface similar to that shown.

Report Example Referring now to FIG. 4, an example of a report that can be generated by the system of the present invention is shown. The report is a web page visit graph 400 showing various nodes A to E together with connection lines 401 between the nodes. Each connection line 401 indicates, by the thickness of the line, how many users have visited the path between the two nodes connected by the line 401. Therefore, for example, the relatively thick line 401F connecting the nodes B and C indicates that the path from the node B to the node C is relatively frequently circulated. In contrast, a relatively thin line 401B connecting nodes C and A indicates that there are relatively few cycles in the path. Thus, this type of web page visit graph 400 clearly shows to the web administrator the overall state of traffic through the website.

The specific graph 400 shown in FIG. 4 corresponds to the sample data set:
A->B->C-> D
B->A->E-> G
B->C->A->F-> C
A->F-> C
B-> C

Filtering on a pattern with 3 or fewer nodes starting from node B yields the following results:
1 occurrence of B->C-> D
1 occurrence of B->A-> E
1 occurrence of B->C-> A
B->C-> Once session end occurs

Thus, as shown in FIG. 4, there are two connections 401E, 401F from the first node B, one to node A and one to node C. Since the path from B to C is circulated three times as often as the path from A to C, the connection between nodes B and C is three times as thick as the connection between B and A. It is. The connection further branches from node A to node E (401D), node C to node D (401A), node C to node A (401B), and node C to session termination (401C). Since these connections occur at the same frequency, they are equal in thickness.

In one embodiment, a connection and / or node colors itself to represent a representation of the strength of the relationship between a given node and the next node in the sequence (ie, frequent cycling). I have added. For example, if the case where the circulation frequency is higher is green, the node B and / or the connection line 401F are colored green to indicate that the circulation frequency is high.

Referring now to FIG. 5, another example of a graph 500 is shown that shows the relative frequency of patrols using color changes with line thickness. The connection line 401 connects the nodes 201, and the color and thickness of the line 401 indicate the relative frequency with which each path is circulated. The All others icon 501 represents all other nodes that are not displayed because they are rarely visited.

The graph 500 also shows the number of times each path is circulated and the percentage of users who visit the node for each particular path from that node. For example, the graph 500 shows among users who have visited the home page represented by the node 201:

-Indicate that 22,706 users (24.64% of all users who visited the homepage) have followed path 401U and exited the site;

-11,485 users (12.46% of all users who visited the home page) have gone through path 401V and indicate that they visited node 201H;

-Indicate that 9,237 users (10.02% of all users who visited the home page) have gone through path 401V and have visited node 201J;

etc.

Referring now to FIG. 6, another example of a graph 600 is shown that shows the relative frequency of the trips using the change in color along with the thickness of the line. Again, the connection line 401 connects the nodes 201, and the color and thickness of the line 401 indicate the relative frequency with which each path is circulated.

Based on the target path provided by the administrator, graph 600 shows which web page leads to a particular web page (the home page represented by node 201F). This is in contrast to the graph 500 that shows which pages have been visited after the home page. A graph such as 600 provides useful information indicating where the user came from when a user visits a particular page. For example, an administrator can measure the relative value of advertisements placed on various websites and pages. The pattern shown in the graph 600 is called “convergence”.

Similar to the graph 500, the graph 600 also shows the number of times each path is circulated and the percentage of users who have visited the node for each particular path out of the node visitors.

More complex graphs can be generated, including drawing of connection paths that diffuse and converge. Referring now to FIG. 7, an example of a graph 700 resulting from the following pattern mask is shown:
B->?-> E

Connection lines 401G and 401K diffuse from node B to nodes C and A, respectively. Lines 401J and 401L represent convergence from nodes C and A to node E. Similar to the graph of FIG. 4, the relative frequency of the tour is indicated by the relative thickness of the line.

Referring now to FIG. 8, an example of a graph 800 resulting from the following pattern mask is shown:
?->E->?

Lines 401N, 401P, and 401Q represent convergence from nodes C, B, and A to node E, respectively. Lines 401R and 401S spread from node E to node F and session termination. Again, the relative frequency of the tour is indicated by the relative thickness of the line.

  In one embodiment, once the graph is output to the display screen, the administrator can click on additional nodes to initiate further reports for the selected particular node. For example, clicking on node A displays a pop-up menu that allows the analyst to select (among other things) a “next node flow” report or a “previous node flow” report with A as the reference node. If the system can provide other types of reports, a click on node A can also be used as a starting point for entering other reports relative to node A. For example, a report can be started showing how often A appears in the data set.

In other embodiments, the system of the present invention generates other types of reports that include different representations of visit path frequencies. Referring to FIG. 11, a pie chart 1101, summary 1103, and detailed description 1102 show an example of a report 1100 showing the relative frequency of path visits. A report parameter 1104 is shown, which indicates that the report includes a cyclic path starting at any page, and a cyclic path with an arbitrary length, including a home page at some point, That's what it means.

Referring to FIG. 12, a report 1200 similar to FIG. 11 is shown. However, the report 1102 does not show statistics for the entire patrol path, but provides statistics related to the next page visited after the home page. Accordingly, the percentage of pie chart 1101, summary 1103, and details 1102 show the percentage of users who visited each page after visiting the home page.

Referring now to FIG. 13, a report 1300 similar to FIG. 11 is shown. Here, instead of showing the results of all paths, the report is limited to specific paths that match the target path. A summary of filter options 1301 for the selected target path is shown. In one embodiment, the target path is constructed using the techniques described above, such as by using wildcards and / or checkpoints. Edit filter link 1302 presents a screen that allows the administrator to modify the target path using the techniques described above. The pie chart 1101, the summary 1103, and the details 1102 of FIG. 13 represent statistics about the web page patrol path in the set defined by the target path.

Referring to FIG. 14A, a dropout report 1400 is shown. In one embodiment, the report 1400 is based on a target path that is specified in consideration of checkpoints as described above. In the embodiment, page 4 is designated as a checkpoint. That is, a homepage, a page for putting a product in a cart, a purchase process-delivery information page, and a purchase process-order confirmation page. Accordingly, the report 1400 corresponds to the target path 1007 described above in connection with FIG. The checkpoint edit link 1401 provides the administrator with a screen such as a dialog box 1000 for editing the target path 1007.

The report 1400 shows how many users will go to the next checkpoint in the target path 1007, regardless of whether the user has previously visited other unrelated pages. Users who do not proceed next are marked as “lost”. Checkpoint analysis 1402 indicates, for example, that 52% of users who have visited a home page have advanced to a page for placing a product in a cart, and 48% have gone missing. Of the users who visited the page to add items to the cart, 42% went to the purchase process-delivery information and 58% were missing. Similar information is displayed for the remaining checkpoints in the target path 1007. The cumulative percentage is shown for each checkpoint as well. That is, based on the total number of users who visited the home page at the start of the target path 1007, the percentage of users who reach that checkpoint is indicated. The real number of users who reached each checkpoint is also shown near the percentage. The report also shows the number and percentage of the total convergence (number of users who visited all checkpoint nodes in the target path) and total dropout (number of users who visited the home page but did not exit the target path). Includes statistics for

The same information is summarized in a more concise form of the convergence percentage summary 1403 and the dropout percentage summary 1404 that form an additional part of the report 1400.

Referring to FIG. 14B, a context sensitive menu 1405 is shown for items in the dropout report 1400. In one embodiment, the administrator can activate a menu 1405 for an item such as one of the checkpoints displayed in the checkpoint analysis 1402 by right-clicking that item. Menu 1405 includes various commands 1408 for viewing another type of report associated with the selected item. In addition, a submenu such as 1407 can be used to select a particular type of report in command 1408 of menu 1405. In one embodiment, menu 1405 also includes a field 1406 that allows the name of the selected page to be rewritten and also includes a command 1408 for opening the selected page in a new window. A close box 1409 closes the menu 1405.

In one embodiment, the same command 1408 is available from a standard screen menu well known in the art.

Referring now to FIG. 15, a page summary report 1500 for a selected page (in this case a website home page) is shown. The page summary report 1500 includes an overall cyclic analysis 1505, a page view graph 1503, and a page measurement index 1504 for the selected page. The patrol analysis 1505 provides a previous page section 1501 that indicates where the user came from and visited the home page, and a next page section 1502 that indicates where the user moved after the visit. Each section 1501, 1502 provides a summary percentage and some measurement details for the particular page visited.

A page view graph 1503 summarizes traffic for a home page on a specific day of the month. For comparison, traffic 4 weeks ago and 52 weeks ago are also shown.

  The page measurement index 1504 provides additional information that summarizes user visits to the home page. This information includes, for example:

Total page views;

Percentage of all page views;

Visit where the homepage was the entrance page;

A visit where the homepage is the exit page;

  Visits where the homepage was the only visit page;

Average number of clicks to reach the page;

Time spent on the page; and

Number of reloads.

Referring to FIG. 16, a click map report 1600 for a selection page according to one embodiment is shown. Here, the display of the actual web page 1601 is shown. Covering the web page 1601 is a box 1602 indicating how many users clicked various links within the page 1601 during a specific time. In the illustrated embodiment, box 1602 includes both absolute numbers and percentages. In one embodiment, box 1602 is color coded according to the relative frequency of clicking on the underlying link. In addition, panel 1603 provides additional metrics, options, and links to related pages. The click map report 1600, in one embodiment, is generated based on pattern matching and / or the checkpoint methodology described above.

It goes without saying to those skilled in the art that reports such as those shown herein can be generated without using the masking or checkpoint matching techniques described above and are used in situations other than web page visit path analysis. be able to. In fact, reports similar to the above are useful in any situation where the sequence relationships between nodes should be analyzed and summarized.

  The present invention can also acquire and present sequence data at a granularity level rather than at a page level. For example, a page group can be designated as a node for site path tracking purposes. That is, a visit to any page in the group can be considered a visit to that node. It goes without saying to those skilled in the art that nodes can be defined at any desired level of granularity and may exist in situations other than website surfing.

In the description above for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it goes without saying to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other embodiments, structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the present invention.

What is referred to herein as "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" is that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic associated with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention Means. In the various embodiments in the specification, all references to the phrase “are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment.

Some portions of the detailed description are presented as algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits in computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the most efficient means used by those familiar with data processing technology to communicate their work to others familiar with the technology. The algorithm is here and generally considered to be a self-consistent step sequence that leads to the desired result. Steps are those requiring physical manipulation of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. References to signals such as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, words, numbers, etc. have proven to be useful at times, primarily assuming normal usage.

However, it should be noted that all of these terms and similar terms should be associated with appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless there are other specific explanations that are obvious from the discussion, it goes without saying that the term “process”, “calculation”, “calculation”, “decision” or “display” is used throughout the explanation. A description of a computer system register and data represented as physical (electrical) quantities in memory, computer system memory or registers, or other physical quantities in a device that stores, transfers, or displays such information. Refers to the operation and processing of a computer system or similar computing device that manipulates and converts other data that is similarly represented.

The present invention also relates to an apparatus for performing the operations herein. The apparatus may be specially configured for the required purposes, or may comprise a general purpose computer that is selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored on the computer. Such computer programs include, but are not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, and magneto-optical disks, read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), EPROM, EEPROM, magnetic Or it may be stored on a computer readable storage medium, such as an optical card, or any form of medium suitable for storing electronic instructions, and each medium connected to a computer system bus.

The algorithms and displays presented herein are essentially independent of any particular computer, computer network, or other apparatus. Various general purpose systems may be used with programs based on the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct more specialized devices to perform the required method steps. . The required structure for a variety of these systems will appear from the description. In addition, the present invention is not described with reference to specific programming languages. It will be appreciated that various programming languages may be used to implement the teachings of the invention as described herein.

It goes without saying to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or basic characteristics. For example, the specific architecture described above is merely illustrative of one implementation of the invention. The functional elements and method steps described above are provided as an illustration of one technique for practicing the invention. That is, it goes without saying to those skilled in the art that many other implementations as set forth in the claims are possible without departing from the invention. Similarly, the particular capitalization or name of a module, protocol, feature, attribute, or any other aspect is not essential and not critical, and the mechanism for implementing the invention, or feature thereof, may have another name or It may be in the form. Furthermore, the present invention may be implemented as a method, process, user interface, computer program product, system, apparatus, or any combination thereof. Accordingly, the intent of the present disclosure is to be described in the description of the scope of the invention set forth in the following claims, and is not intended to be limiting.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a website traffic data collection system according to the prior art. The sequence example of the web page which a user visits in the process of purchasing goods from an online shop trader is shown. An example sequence of a web page including an irrelevant page visited by a user in the process of purchasing a product from an online shop vendor is shown. 2 shows an example of a web page visit graph according to one embodiment. 6 shows an example of a web page visit graph using line thickness and color according to one embodiment. An example of a web page visit graph including a convergence relationship according to an embodiment is shown. 6 illustrates an example of a web page visit graph including convergence and diffusion relationships according to one embodiment. Fig. 5 illustrates another example of a web page visit graph including convergence and diffusion relationships according to one embodiment. Fig. 4 illustrates an example of a user interface for constructing a target path that includes wildcards. Fig. 4 illustrates an example of a user interface for constructing a target path that includes wildcards. Fig. 5 illustrates an example of a user interface for configuring a target path using checkpoints. 6 illustrates an example of a report indicating the relative frequency of path crossings according to one embodiment. FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a report showing statistics for a next page visited after a selected page according to one embodiment. FIG. 6 shows an example of a report indicating the relative frequency of path patrols limited to specific paths that match target paths according to one embodiment. Fig. 5 shows a dropout report according to one embodiment. Fig. 5 shows a context-dependent menu for one item of a dropout report according to one embodiment. Fig. 5 shows a page summary report for a selected page according to one embodiment. Fig. 6 illustrates a click map report for a selection page according to one embodiment.

Claims (27)

A computer-implemented method for obtaining and presenting node sequence data, wherein the node sequence data comprises website visit path data, each node corresponding to at least one web page. And the method is
Receiving an input specifying a target path consisting of a sequence of a plurality of checkpoint nodes, wherein the target path further includes at least one wildcard in any order in the sequence; Each of the two wildcards may match 1) any single node in the rank corresponding to the wildcard in the target path sequence, or 2) correspond to the wildcard in the target path sequence Indicates any one of the ranks that may match 0 to a plurality of arbitrary nodes,
Retrieving a plurality of records comprising node sequence data from the stored log;
To identify the subset of records retrieved that match the target path, the method comprising: filtering the taken out recording, wherein the filtering the taken out recording, each of the taken out recording Consists of executing at least one of the following (a) to (d):
(A) identifying the retrieved record as matching the target path in response to the retrieved record including all checkpoint nodes in the target path in the defined order, wherein The retrieved record does not contain any additional nodes,
(B) identifying the retrieved record as matching the target path in response to the retrieved record including all checkpoint nodes in the target path in the defined order, wherein The retrieved record includes
At least one additional node between a checkpoint node in the target path and a subsequent checkpoint node in the target path;
At least one additional node before the first checkpoint node in the target path;
At least one additional node after the last checkpoint node in the target path;
At least one of
(C) identifying the retrieved record as not matching the target path in response to the retrieved record not including all checkpoint nodes in the target path;
(D) identifying the retrieved record as not matching the target path in response to checkpoint nodes in node sequence data appearing in an order different from the determined order;
Outputting a report based on the identified record;
A method comprising: In addition, before removing the plurality of records,
Monitoring web page visits,
Storing in the log a record representing the monitored web page visit;
The method of claim 1 wherein: The method according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the target path comprises a node corresponding to an entry point. The target path is provided with a node corresponding to the exit point, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 3. It includes outputting a report indicating the relative frequency of occurrence of the node sequence, The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4 for outputting the report. It includes outputting a report indicating the relative frequency of occurrence of the target path that matches the node sequence, The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4 for outputting the report. 5. The report of any of claims 1-4 , wherein outputting the report includes outputting a graph including a line representing a node sequence, wherein the visual feature of the line indicates a relative frequency of occurrence of the node sequence. The method described. The method of claim 7 , wherein the visual feature is thickness. The method of claim 7 , wherein the visual feature is a color. A system for obtaining and presenting node sequence data, wherein the node sequence data comprises website visit path data, each node corresponding to at least one web page, the system comprising:
A log for storing a plurality of records comprising node sequence data;
An input device for receiving an input specifying a target path consisting of a sequence of a plurality of checkpoint nodes, the target path further including at least one wildcard in any order in the sequence, Each of the at least one wildcard may match 1) any single node in the rank corresponding to the wildcard in the target path sequence, or 2) the wildcard in the target path sequence The corresponding order indicates any one of 0 to a plurality of arbitrary nodes, and
The record is connected to the log and the input device, the record is extracted from the log , the extracted record is filtered, and at least one of the following (a) to (d) is provided for each of the extracted records: A path analysis module that identifies a subset of the retrieved records that match the target path by executing
(A) identifying the retrieved record as matching the target path in response to the retrieved record including all checkpoint nodes in the target path in the defined order, wherein The retrieved record does not contain any additional nodes,
(B) identifying the retrieved record as matching the target path in response to the retrieved record including all checkpoint nodes in the target path in the defined order, wherein The retrieved record includes
At least one additional node between a checkpoint node in the target path and a subsequent checkpoint node in the target path;
At least one additional node before the first checkpoint node in the target path;
At least one additional node after the last checkpoint node in the target path;
At least one of
(C) identifying the retrieved record as not matching the target path in response to the retrieved record that does not include all checkpoint nodes in the target path;
(D) identifying the retrieved record as not matching the target path in response to a checkpoint node in node sequence data appearing in an order different from the predetermined order;
An output device connected to the path analysis module for outputting a report based on the identified record. 11. The tracking server of claim 10 , further comprising a tracking server connected to the log for monitoring a web page visit and sending a signal to the log to store a record representing the monitored web page visit. system. The system according to claim 10 or 11 , wherein the target path comprises a node corresponding to an entry point. The target path is provided with a node corresponding to the exit point, according to any one of claims 10 to 12 systems. It said output device outputs a report that indicates the relative frequency of occurrence of the node sequence, the system according to any one of claims 10 to 13. It said output device outputs a report that indicates the relative frequency of occurrence of the target path that matches the node sequence, the system according to any one of claims 10 to 13. 16. A system according to any of claims 10 to 15 , wherein the report comprises a graph including a line representing a node sequence, wherein the visual feature of the line indicates a relative frequency of occurrence of the node sequence. The system of claim 16 , wherein the visual feature is thickness. The system of claim 16 , wherein the visual feature is a color. A computer program for obtaining and presenting node sequence data, wherein the node sequence data comprises website visit path data, each node corresponding to at least one web page,
Receiving an input specifying a target path consisting of a sequence of a plurality of checkpoint nodes, wherein the target path further includes at least one wildcard in any order in the sequence; Each of the two wildcards may match 1) any single node in the rank corresponding to the wildcard in the target path sequence, or 2) correspond to the wildcard in the target path sequence Indicates any one of the ranks that may match 0 to a plurality of arbitrary nodes,
A procedure for retrieving a plurality of records comprising node sequence data from the stored log;
A procedure for filtering the retrieved records to identify a subset of the retrieved records that match the target path , wherein filtering the retrieved records comprises: Consists of executing at least one of the following (a) to (d):
(A) identifying the retrieved record as matching the target path in response to the retrieved record including all checkpoint nodes in the target path in the defined order, wherein The retrieved record does not contain any additional nodes,
(B) identifying the retrieved record as matching the target path in response to the retrieved record including all checkpoint nodes in the target path in the defined order, wherein The retrieved record includes
At least one additional node between a checkpoint node in the target path and a subsequent checkpoint node in the target path;
At least one additional node before the first checkpoint node in the target path;
At least one additional node after the last checkpoint node in the target path;
At least one of
(C) identifying the retrieved record as not matching the target path in response to the retrieved record that does not include all checkpoint nodes in the target path;
(D) identifying the retrieved record as not matching the target path in response to a checkpoint node in node sequence data appearing in an order different from the predetermined order;
A computer program for executing a procedure for outputting a report based on the identified record. Furthermore, prior to the procedure of retrieving the plurality of records in the computer,
Procedures to monitor web page visits,
Storing in the log a record presenting the monitored web page visit;
The computer program according to claim 19 , wherein the computer program is executed. The computer program according to claim 19 or 20 , wherein the target path comprises a node corresponding to an entry point. The target path is provided with a node corresponding to the exit point, the computer program according to any one of claims 19 to 21. Procedure for outputting the report, consists of a procedure for outputting a report indicating the relative frequency of occurrence of the node sequence, the computer program according to any one of claims 19 to 22. The computer program according to any one of claims 19 to 22 , wherein the procedure of outputting the report includes a procedure of outputting a report indicating a relative occurrence frequency of a node sequence that matches the target path. Procedure for outputting the report, consists procedure of outputting a chart containing a line representing the node sequence, the visual characteristics of the lines indicate the relative frequency of occurrence of the node sequence, in any one of claims 19 to 22 The computer program described. 26. The computer program product of claim 25 , wherein the visual feature is thickness. 26. The computer program product of claim 25 , wherein the visual feature is a color.

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